• Published 12th Feb 2014
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The Princess and the Foals - Autum Breeze



Sunset Shimmer returns to Equestria, but not the Sunset Shimmer we know

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Chapter 2 - What to do? Oh, What to do?

Chapter 2

What to do? Oh, What to do?

“WAT?!” Sunset Shimmer cried, her eyes filling with tears.
This just wasn’t her day. First she gets thrown into some weird forest with blue plants and now she was turning into a baby?

________________________________________

Twilight stared at the tiny foal at her hooves. What was Sunset Shimmer doing in Equestria? How as she even here? The portal wouldn’t open again for another fifteen moons.

When she saw the tears forming in Sunset Shimmer’s eyes, Twilight realized she had to do something.
Her horn glowed with her purple aura and she levitated Sunset into her forehooves.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, Sunset,” she cooed, trying to calm the tiny foal down. "It's okay."

Sunset sniffed a few times, then looked up at her. “How do you know my nawm?”

Twilight blinked. “You... don’t remember me?”

When the foal shook her head, Twilight felt very confused. How could Sunset Shimmer have forgotten her, of all ponies?

“We’ll go to Zecora’s house,” Twilight said, nodding, more to herself. “She might be able to fix this.”

“Zecorwa?” Sunset looked up at her in confusion. “What wouwd my ewemetawy scoow fwiend be dowing herw?”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to look confused. “Elementary school friend? You went to school with Zecora? How? She hasn’t been here for that long.”
The foal just looked up at her with more confusion. Twilight was about to respond, when she thought better of it. She could ask those kind of questions later.

“What did this to you?” she asked, looking around for what could have made Sunset’s age regress to that of a foal.

“Dose!” Sunset Shimmer pointed to a bunch of glowing blue berries lying next to a bush with even more of the same fruits. Twilight made to reach for them when Sunset Shimmer screamed, “NO!” Twilight glanced back down at the foal. “Down’t touch dem!”

Twilight nodded, levitating the closest bunch with her magic. “Let’s see if Zecora knows what these are.”

“Wait!” Sunset cried, reaching toward her saddle bags. They had the only things she had left from her home in them. “Mwy bawgs!”
The winged unicorn glanced at them and nodded, levitating them too.

________________________________________

“Zecora!” Twilight shouted as she slammed Zecora’s front door open. “We’ve got a problem.”

The zebra grumbled a little, clearly having been about to turn in for the night.

“What is it that seems to have transpired, that has ensured tonight I will keep feeling so tired?” she asked, turning, only to have the foal Sunset Shimmer pushed right up to her face.

“Sunset Shimmer’s back and she’s turned into a foal!” Twilight cried, levitating the foal back to herself and lowering her onto her neck, which Sunset clutched, happy to be holding something sold again. “Can you tell us what this fruit is?” Twilight asked, levitating the glowing blue berries.

Zecora’s eyes widened. “Do you mean to tell me, that those berries were found, here, in the Everfree?”

“Wes!” Sunset nodded from Twilight’s back. “I awt dem, den I turwned intwo a baby!”

“Take me to these berries you found,” Zecora said firmly and Twilight led her out of the house and off towards where she’d found Sunset Shimmer without a second thought.

As they walked, Twilight wondered why Zecora had not finished her last sentence in rhyme. A few minutes later they were standing in front of the bush of glowing blue berries.

Zecora glared at the bush of berries “These berries must be burned to the ground,” shesaid, her voice grim.

So that’s why she didn’t finish earlier, Twilight thought to herself.

Zecora cleared her throat and Twilight realized she meant for her to burn the plant. Her horn glowed and the bush caught fire. Within minutes it was nothing but ashes.

"Um, Zecora?" Twilight asked, turning to the zebra. "Exactly why did I have to destroy that plant?"

Zecora turned to her. "For many moons the shaman of my tribe, many tales they did describe, of a berry plant that makes one young, but also the many disasters that they brung. for another disaster to not be employed, the berries, the entire bush, had to be destroyed."

Zecroa then motioned for Twilight to follow and she did, with the foal Sunset Shimmer still clinging to her neck.

________________________________________

Sunset Shimmer listened as the two older mares talked.

She was surprised how much like her old school friend Zecora was. Her friend had been from Africa and, judging from the accent, so was this Zecora. Plus, she was a zebra. Zebras come from Africa.

Another thing she did, just like the Zecora she knew, this Zecora also always spoke in rhyme. She’d never asked her why and wasn’t sure she wanted to asked the zebra, in case it was prying.

The other pony was named Princess Twilight Sparkle and was something called an alicorn.

Sunset learned she was in a world called Equestria, in which there lived many talking ponies as well as other animals, though only those who were part equine, sheep or, surprisingly, Griffon, could talk.

There were four different types of ponies. Unicorns, like Sunset had become herself, pegasi and normal ponies who were referred to as earth ponies. The four race of ponies, obviously was alicorns, like the princess.

Sunset had explained to the two that she was not the Sunset Shimmer they thought she was, which shocked them, but then they both looked uneasy.

When she’d asked why, she learned that it had not been minutes since she’d woken up after she’d been thrown out of her own world and into Equestia. It had been four and half years and the portal only opened every three years.

This was bad enough, however, she did not like what the mares were talking about in regards to the berries she’d eaten. Apparently, they were called Baby Berries. A rare and forbidden plant, thought to have died out in a time before something called Nightmare Moon.

If the juice of the berries came into contact with you, your age would regress. How young you became depended on how much juice you made contact with.
Luckily, the effects were only temporary, wearing off in a matter of days, two weeks at the most. However, that was if you only touched the juice.

Zecora also explained that the reason she'd had Twilight destroy the bushes was because being able to gain eternal youth through such an easy means as eating those berries for as long as you wanted to live was against nature,and, being a shaman, she could not allow such a plant to continue existing, for it had caused many wars between the three tribes that was ended when Celestia and Luna took to the thrones and forbid the berries, ordering their destruction throughout the land.

“The effects, I fear, will not be so mild, for this dear and lost little child,” Zecroa said, before explaining that, because Sunset had ingested the berries, they were now inside of her and the only way to become older again was that she would have to grow up normally.

At this, Sunset Shimmer had started crying. She didn’t mean to, but she couldn’t stop herself. She wailed like... well, like a baby, tears streaming down her face, forming small puddles next to her rear hooves.

She felt someone pick her up and opened her eyes slightly to see it was Princess Twilight. She was holding her in her forehooves, smiling warmly down at her.

“Don’t worry,” she cooed, her smile reminding Sunset of her mother. “Until we can fix this, I’ll look after you.”

“Weally?” Sunset asked, then winced at her speech, which only made Twilight giggle.

There was a cough and they looked at Zecora.

“Twilight Sparkle,” Zecora called. “before you go, I must talk to you for a minute alone, for there is something you must know,” the Zebra replied.

“Um... okay,’ Twilight said, then glanced down at the foal in her forehooves. “ But, what about Sunset Shimmer?” she asked, not wanting to leave a small pony who’d been a human up until today unattended, especially since she was now a foal.

“Come with me, I only have some to ask, you see?” Zecora nodded towards the door to a smaller room of her hut and Twilight followed her, leaving Sunset Shimmer alone.

________________________________________

“So, what’s up, Zecora?” Twilight asked as they stood in a small room Zecora must use for making very special types of potions. She wondered why Zecora couldn’t have said whatever she needed to say in front of Sunset Shimmer.

Zecora turned to her with a worried expression. “Twilight Sparkle, what i ask now isn't something we can simply dismiss. Just how old do you think Sunset Shimmer is?”

Twilight thought about it for a moment (plus, having to decipher the rhyme in her head) before answering. “I’d say... maybe one year old?”

Zecora shook her head and said, “No, my princess. I can tell that is sadly not the age she has yet met. She isn’t even one yet.”

“Then... how old is she?” Twilight asked, curious as to what Sunset’s age was.

“If my guess is true and right she will be three months old by tomorrow night.” Zecora replied.

This shocked the alicorn so much her mouth hung open in a great big O. Three months? She knew Sunset Shimmer was small, but, yikes! “So, what's the big deal?” she asked, not getting what the Zebra was implying.

“Twilight Sparkle, I know this may sound rather a little bit ilk, but what do foals drink until they are old enough to drink whole milk?” Zecora asked. She watched the mare think of the answer. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as saucepans.

“B-b-breast milk,” she said, her whole face turning a red that would make Big Macintosh jealous. “But would she even—?”

Zecora interrupted by holding up a hoof. “You may not have to do, but if she can not keep down formula, you may well have to,” she said.

“But..” Twilight protested, her face, somehow getting even redder, “I'm not lactat— My body isn't producing milk.”

“I can take care of that, my friend,” Zecora smiled. “I'll do what I can to help this situation amend.” She went over to a shelf and pulled down a bottle of greenish-blue liquid. “Just take this, and then you'll nurse the same as a mother cow,” she said, hoofing it to Twilight, who caught it with her magic, then put it in Sunset’s saddle bag, which she was wearing, since its owner was too small to carry it anymore. “Well, I think it is time for you two to go now,” Zecora said.

Twilight went back into the other room and Twilight levitated Sunset onto her back, who started holding onto her neck. “Well, we'll be going now. See you later Zecora and thank you for your help. Say goodbye, Sunset.”

“G’bye!” Sunset chirped, waving to Zecroa as they walked back through the front door and it closed behind them.

Author's Note:

chapter 2's already done. not sure when I'll finish chapter three, but I'll try tomorrow.

big thanks to Super-Stallion who inspired me with Her Little Rainbow. I apoligise if it looks like i copied the scene with Zecora from your story. i;m absolute bollocks when it comes to thinking of rhymes that can keep going through a conversation.

I'm better at the quick rhymes, but i figured out a small rhyme that i think works when Zecora is explaining what the Baby Berries are and why they had to be destroyed right after Twilight destroys them.

As for her explaining what they do? Sorry, i couldn't think of a rhyme for that, so i didn't have her rhyming it, cos it would have blown my brain trying to think of how she could say it all in rhyme

hope you all enjoy the revision